EMT cares for cat that jumped from burning building

SAN ANTONIO -- When an apartment building on Broadway caught fire last Tuesday, there was one dramatic rescue that didn't make the news. A cat saved itself by jumping through a window from a burning unit on the second floor. If she had nine lives, she might have lost a few that day, but she walked away with a brand new name."Why Phoenix? 'Cause she rose from the ash, of course. She jumped out of the fire, jumped out of a second story window to save herself. So what better of a name to give her than Phoenix?" asked Misty Dingel-Elrod. She's a paramedic with the San Antonio Fire Department and first found the cat at the scene of the Fox Run Apartment fire."I hear that there's this cat that's been burnt so my natural instinct is like, 'where's the cat?' Since it's not our turn to help our guys rehab or anything yet," she explained.All humans had safely made it out of the building and nobody was hurt. Phoenix was in pretty bad shape when she made a desperate escape while the fire raged around her."Her poor little ears were just burnt. They were singed. She had burn spots on her eyes, on her face, on her nose."Misty's wife works for the non-profit SnipSA who came to treat Phoenix. The group is now paying for her medical care.That is an animal that wants to survive and is going to fight for its life," Jeni Smith said. She's with SnipSA, which is a foster-based rescue organizaton that does not have a shelter to house homeless animals. Unable to reconnect her with her family, Phoenix found a new one with Misty and her wife, who have fostered animals before."She just purrs, she just loves being held. She loves her belly rubbed," Misty said, while cradling the cat. When she's not being cuddled, Phoenix has to be kept in a crate so her burned paws will heal. She could one day be up for adoption. And just like her namesake, she's rising from the ashes."She's got a lot of courage, she's got a lot of fight and she's a pretty special cat."